Lower Income Tenants

[Zech Ehnert]

I just bought a 4 unit in a C neighborhood and inherited all of the tenants. They are lower income and though we've only collected rent twice, 3 of the 4 units paid late. 

I came from a lower income and understand that some times a penalty can snowball into other problems. I don't want my tenants to be stuck in a trap or feel that they need to take out a Pay Day loan to pay me, but I don't want to be paid late. 

Any advice on an appropriate late fee and how to handle habitually late tenants?

I was thinking of putting in an incentive for early payment. Anyone have experience with this?

[Account Closed]

I have tenants renting $750 homes from me. I would consider them lower income but employed.  After a recent tour of all my rental properties, I quickly lost what little sympathy I had for late rent. Most of them had a bigger TV than I do,  many had newer model cars and the women all had expensive nail and hair jobs. I figure they can afford all that, they can pay the rent on time!